May 12 2021

Good News: CoVid-19 Vaccination Keeps You Well

First, I want to apologize for the light postings but I work full time, sometimes full time and a half and BobbyK has a busy full time job and a family. I still work in Emergency Medicine but now from the desk, teaching. Much of it has been virtual but, occasionally, it is hands on with the students. I do this as well as my work with an international NGO. So, no, I haven’t forgotten our loyal readers, I just need a 30 hour day to get some sleep. I am also working on fixing the commenting and posting kinks. That said:

There is some really great news for those who are fully vaccinated against SARS-CoVid-2: we can start resuming our normal routines, movies, dining out, visiting family and friends who are vaccinated, without the worry of getting sick. In the rare cases of a vaccinated person contracting the virus, the symptoms are minimal and will probably keep you out or the hospital.

Got the vaccine? Experts say you can relax about your Covid-19 risk now. Really.

I asked health experts about their post-vaccination lives. Most no longer worry about their own risk of Covid-19.

By German Lopez, Vox.com

White House chief medical adviser Anthony Fauci said he will not go into restaurants or movie theaters, even though he’s vaccinated. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says vaccinated people should continue masking up indoors and avoiding large gatherings. News outlets have reported on “breakthrough infections” of Covid-19 among the fully vaccinated.

All of this can make it seem like getting vaccinated may not be enough to liberate people from the fear of getting sick and the precautions they’ve taken to avoid the coronavirus in the past year. So I posed a question to experts I’ve talked to throughout the pandemic about Covid-related precautions: How worried are you about your personal safety after getting vaccinated?

They were nearly unanimous in their response: They’re no longer worried much, if at all, about their personal risk of getting Covid-19. Several spoke of going into restaurants and movie theaters now that they’re vaccinated, socializing with friends and family, and having older relatives visit for extended periods. [..]

As vaccination rates climb and daily new cases and deaths drop, experts said that people should feel more comfortable easing up on precautions, shifting the world back to the pre-pandemic days. That might happen sooner than you think — Israel’s experience suggests that cases could start to sustainably plummet once about 60 percent of the population is vaccinated, a point that could be just a month or two away in the US. And with 46 percent of Americans getting one dose so far, cases in the US have already started to decline.

As more of the population gets the vaccine, it’s prudent to keep masking and avoiding large gatherings, and for people who’ve been vaccinated to share their stories and encourage their friends and family to get vaccinated, too. But that’s not because those who are vaccinated are in any trouble. Even with the spread of the variants, the consensus among experts is that vaccinated people shouldn’t worry much about their own risk of Covid-19. [..]

The real-world evidence has backed this up. In Israel, the country with the most advanced vaccination campaign, the data shows that the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine has been more than 90 percent effective at preventing infections, with even higher rates of blocking symptomatic disease, hospitalization, and death. You can see this in the country’s overall statistics: After Israel almost fully reopened its economy in March, once the majority of the population had at least one dose, daily new Covid-19 cases fell by more than 95 percent. And daily deaths are now in the single digits and, at times, zero.

The research also shows the vaccines are effective against the coronavirus variants that have been discovered so far. While some variants seem better able to get around immunity, the vaccines are so powerful that they still by and large overwhelm and defeat the variants in the end. [..]

Some recent research found that the vaccines can reduce the chances of a vaccinated person spreading the virus to others. The CDC summarized one such real-world study for the Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna vaccines, showing the vaccines stop not just symptoms but overall infections and, therefore, transmission:

Results showed that following the second dose of vaccine (the recommended number of doses), risk of infection was reduced by 90 percent two or more weeks after vaccination. Following a single dose of either vaccine, the participants’ risk of infection with SARS-CoV-2 was reduced by 80 percent two or more weeks after vaccination.

But in the typically cautious worlds of science and public health, experts want to see a bit more research and data before they declare that vaccinated people can throw out their masks and gather in large numbers indoors. (Some experts also said they may continue masking and avoiding crowded indoor spaces during flu season, after such measures seemed to crush the flu in the past year.)

Even if the vaccine proves to reduce transmission, it would still be safer for every person who can get vaccinated to get the shot. And as more people get their shots, it’s also safer to stick to some precautions for their sake.

As for the continued hospitalizations and deaths, they are dropping dramatically. the patients who are requiring hospitalization are those who have not been vaccinated.

COVID-19 patients total 170 at local hospitals, not a single one vaccinated
By Brian Hamnick, WLWT5 News

HAMILTON COUNTY, Ohio —

Vaccine effectiveness is showing up in real-world numbers as local hospitals calculate how many COVID-19 patients have been vaccinated.

“When you look at our hospitals right now, there are about 150 people with COVID in those hospitals. None of them have had the vaccine,” said Hamilton County health commissioner Greg Kesterman.

The exact breakdown of numbers shows in Southwest Ohio there are 142 hospitalized with COVID-19, 36 are in the ICU, 28 are on ventilators. Zero have been vaccinated.

At St. Elizabeth in Northern Kentucky, there are 28 COVID patients, 7 are in the ICU. Zero have been vaccinated.

“This is what we expected to see. This is what the data showed. This is why the science is leading us in this direction,” said UC College of Medicine Dr. Carl Fichtenbaum. “It should be a wakeup call to people who said, ‘I’m not sure about this vaccine.’”

Fichtenbaum led the Moderna studies at the UC College of Medicine.

Proof of performance is showing up in another vaccine statistic locally.

It works. Get the shot.

May 12 2021

Pondering the Pundits

Pondering the Pundits” is an Open Thread. It is a selection of editorials and opinions from around the news media and the internet blogs. The intent is to provide a forum for your reactions and opinions, not just to the opinions presented, but to what ever you find important.

Thanks to ek hornbeck, click on the link and you can access all the past “Pondering the Pundits”.

Follow us on Twitter @StarsHollowGzt

Olivia Troye: Republicans are counting on lies and brute force to win elections. Just like in 2020.

We’re holding them accountable for their words and votes on the election, the Capitol attack and Trump’s second impeachment. We won’t forget the truth.

The path from Donald Trump’s “Stop the Steal” rally to the Capitol was paved with lies about the 2020 election. Now, lies about what happened on Jan. 6 are becoming the Republican Party’s only strategy to regain power – and it’s working.

The Republican Party doesn’t have a governing agenda. It’s a pathetic predicament but obvious to anyone who stepped foot in Trump’s White House. One reason congressional Republicans are focused on cultural issues – Dr. Seuss, fake red meat regulations and a handful of transgender high school athletes around the country – might be to avoid judgment on how they used power: no health care reform, no infrastructure package, heading toward 600,000 dead from the pandemic, and the attack on the Capitol.

The strategy is simple: Obfuscate, lie, change the subject and hope voters hold the other party to a higher standard. It’s cynical, un-American and, as exasperating as it may be, effective. [..]

Overturning elections means denying stubborn facts like vote totals. The first step to getting away with such uninhibited a-reality is to get people to believe lies. By repeating them over and over, you don’t convince people of the lie, you persuade them to forget what’s true. Forgetting the truth is the top agenda item for Republicans, but we have to make sure we’re always there to remind them of how low they’ve fallen.

Paul Krugman: Republicans Are Still Waging War on Workers

Times are good? Punish the unemployed. Times are bad? Punish the unemployed.

Has the Republican Party, which has championed the interests of big business and sought to keep wages low since the late 19th century, suddenly become populist? Some of its rising stars would have you believe so. For example, after the 2020 election Senator Josh Hawley declared that “we must be a working-class party, not a Wall Street party.”

But while Republicans have lately attacked selected businesses, their beef with big companies seems to be over noneconomic issues. It bothers them a lot that some of corporate America has taken a mild stand in favor of social equality and against voter suppression.

What doesn’t bother them is the fact that many corporations pay little or nothing in taxes and pay their workers poorly. On such matters the G.O.P. is the same as it ever was: It’s for tax cuts that favor corporations and the wealthy, against anything that might improve the lives of ordinary workers.

Eugene Robinson: The biggest threat to America is the Republican break with reality

If Democrats want to tackle big issues, we must root for a GOP return to sanity.

The greatest threat to our nation’s future is not covid-19 or the rise of China or even the existential challenge of climate change. It is the Republican Party’s attempt to seize and hold power by offering voters the seductive choice of rejecting inconvenient facts and basic logic.

For the American experiment and people to survive, much less prosper, this iteration of the GOP must fail.

The blind-loyalty-even-to-dishonest-insanity Republican litmus test that is about to cost Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) her leadership job is only the most acute manifestation of the party’s decline into utter irresponsibility. It’s bad enough that those who want to remain in good standing must embrace the “big lie” about purported fraud in the 2020 election. But the requirement doesn’t stop there. On issue after issue, Republicans are cynically adopting a kind of pre-Enlightenment insistence on the primacy of belief over evidence.

If some voters want to believe that covid-19 is somehow being overblown by the world’s leading experts in infectious disease, then it becomes mandatory for GOP governors — ambitious ones, at least — to reopen their state economies, no matter the cost in needless illness and death. If some voters want to believe that systemic racism does not exist, then it becomes mandatory for Republicans to declare, as Sen. Tim Scott (S.C.) did, that “America is not a racist country.” If some voters want to believe that poverty is a choice made by lazy people, then it becomes mandatory for GOP to try to force the poor back to work by slashing unemployment benefits.

There is, of course, often a huge difference between what one might want to believe and what is actually true. Genuine leadership sometimes requires telling people what they don’t want to hear. But the Republican Party no longer even pretends to want to lead. What it wants instead is to obtain power.

Bernie Sanders and Pramila Jayapal: We must fix the gaping holes in Medicare

Bernie Sanders, an independent, represents Vermont in the U.S. Senate. Pramila Jayapal, a Democrat, represents Washington’s 7th Congressional District in the U.S. House.

More than 55 years ago, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed Medicare — one of the most popular and successful government programs in our nation’s history — into law. Before the enactment of Medicare, about half of our senior citizens were uninsured and roughly 35 percent lived in poverty. Today, everyone in America aged 65 or older is guaranteed health-care benefits through Medicare regardless of income or medical condition, while the official poverty rate for seniors is now less than 9 percent.

That is the good news. The bad news is that, since its inception in 1965, Medicare has not covered such basic health-care needs as hearing, dental care and vision. The result: Millions of senior citizens have teeth rotting in their mouths, are unable to hear what their children and grandchildren say or can’t read a newspaper because of failing eyesight. It is a cruel irony that older Americans do not have coverage for these benefits at the time when they need it the most. [..]

And yet, in the richest country in the world, the outrageous reality is that 75 percent of senior citizens who suffer from hearing loss do not have a hearing aid because of the prohibitive cost. Sixty-five percent of senior citizens have no dental insurance and no idea how they will be able to afford to go to a dentist. More than a quarter of senior citizens in this country are missing all of their natural teeth, with many unable to properly digest the food that they eat. Over 70 percent of Americans 65 and older have untreated gum disease. We simply cannot tolerate this any longer.

Amanda Marcotte: Canceling the anti-insurrectionists in the GOP proves Republicans never cared about “free speech”

Kevin McCarthy claims Republicans “embrace free thought” but, in reality, all they want is total cultural dominance

Despite all the preening about “free speech” on the right, the truth is complaints about “cancel culture” have always been code for “conservatives can say whatever terrible things they want, and liberals can shut up about it.” And while play-acting as the victims of censorship because liberals mock or criticize them, Republicans have been busy actually silencing free speech: from demanding that athletes be fired for kneeling during the national anthem to, memorably, Donald Trump ordering the tear-gassing of peaceful protesters in Lafayette Park. While conservatives whine about oppression because people call them “racist” on Twitter, they are actually using complaints about “wokeness” as an excuse for the literal government censorship of discourse that acknowledges the reality of racism, as Michelle Goldberg of the New York Times chronicled.

That’s conservatism, of course: Always projecting their own sins onto their liberal opponents.

But the Republican enthusiasm for censorship has become even more pronounced in the past few weeks, as they’ve escalated the purge of any party members who refuse to sign onto the Big Lie that Joe Biden “stole” the election and that the Capitol insurrection was no big deal.

On Monday, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif. — following in the footsteps of that other, more infamous McCarthy — escalated the blacklisting of Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., for admitting that the insurrection was a real thing that really happened because Donald Trump was really trying to steal an election that Joe Biden really won. McCarthy sent a letter to the Republican caucus declaring his intention to lead the effort to remove Cheney from her leadership position for said thought crimes and included a real howler of a closing paragraph.

“We are a big tent party,” McCarthy insisted, as they purge anyone who refuses to sign off the Big Lie. “And unlike the left, we embrace free thought and debate.”

Of course, not if you think thoughts about admitting reality or debate those who insist on fealty to a lie.

May 12 2021

Cartnoon

Reinheitsgebot: Bavarian Beer Laws

There are more than 8200 craft breweries in the United States. But it is a strange irony of the history of beer that, in sixteenth century Bavaria, the flavorful adulterations of brew common in craft brews were banned in a proclamation that still affects the industry today. The 1516 Reinheitsgebot, or “beer purity law,” deserves to be remembered.

If you ever get to Germany in late September, the Oktoberfest in Munich is an absolute must. There are huge tents with music, singing, dancing, food (the bratworst is awesome), and yes beer, some of the best you’ll ever have. Trust me, ther German beers will spoil you for what passes for beer here in the US.

The Reinheitsgebot (German pronunciation: [ˈʁaɪnhaɪtsɡəboːt] (About this soundlisten), literally “purity order”) is a series of regulations limiting the ingredients in beer in Germany and the states of the former Holy Roman Empire. The best known version of the law was adopted in Bavaria in 1516, but similar regulations predate the Bavarian order, and modern regulations also significantly differ from the 1516 Bavarian version.

The most influential predecessor of the modern Reinheitsgebot was a law first adopted in the duchy of Munich in 1487. After Bavaria was reunited, the Munich law was adopted across the entirety of Bavaria on 23 April 1516. As Germany unified, Bavaria pushed for adoption of this law on a national basis (see Broader adoption).

According to the 1516 Bavarian law, the only ingredients that could be used in the production of beer were water, barley and hops. The text does not mention yeast as an ingredient, although yeast was at the time knowingly used in the brewing process. It is likely that brewers of the time preferred to see yeast as a fixture of the brewing process. Yeast produced in one batch was commonly transferred to a subsequent batch, thus giving yeast a more permanent character in the brewing process. A full understanding of chemical basis of yeast and the fermentation process did not come until much later.

The 1516 Bavarian law set the price of beer (depending on the time of year and type of beer), limited the profits made by innkeepers, and made confiscation the penalty for making impure beer.

The Bavarian order of 1516 was introduced in part to prevent price competition with bakers for wheat and rye. The restriction of grains to barley was meant to ensure the availability of affordable bread, as wheat and rye were reserved for use by bakers. The rule may have also had a protectionist role, as beers from Northern Germany often contained additives that were not present in Bavarian beer.

Religious conservatism may have also played a role in adoption of the rule in Bavaria, to suppress the use of plants that were allegedly used in pagan rituals, such as gruit, henbane, belladonna, or wormwood. The rule also excluded problematic methods of preserving beer, such as soot, stinging nettle and henbane.

While some sources refer to the Bavarian law of 1516 as the first law regulating food safety, this is inaccurate, as earlier food safety regulations can be traced back as far as ancient Rome. Similarly, some sources claim that the law has been essentially unchanged since its adoption, but as early as the mid-1500s Bavaria began to allow ingredients such as coriander, bay leaf, and wheat. Yeast was also added to modern versions of the law after the discovery of its role in fermentation.

The Reinheitsgebot remains the most famous law that regulates the brewing of beer, and continues to influence brewing not only in Germany, but around the world.

Modern versions of the law have contained significant exceptions for different types of beer (such as top-fermented beers), for export beers, and for different regions. The basic law now declares that only malted grains, hops, water and yeast are permitted.

In response to the growth of craft breweries globally, some commentators, German brewers, and even German politicians have argued that the Reinheitsgebot has slowed Germany’s adoption of beer trends popular in the rest of the world, such as Belgian lambics and American craft styles. In late 2015, Bavarian brewers voted in favor of a revision to the beer laws to allow other natural ingredients.

TMC for ek hornbeck

May 12 2021

The Breakfast Club (Born In America)

Welcome to The Breakfast Club! We’re a disorganized group of rebel lefties who hang out and chat if and when we’re not too hungover we’ve been bailed out we’re not too exhausted from last night’s (CENSORED) the caffeine kicks in. Join us every weekday morning at 9am (ET) and weekend morning at 10:00am (ET) (or whenever we get around to it) to talk about current news and our boring lives and to make fun of LaEscapee! If we are ever running late, it’s PhilJD’s fault.

This Day in History

The Soviet Union announces an end to its blockade of Berlin; Body of missing Lindbergh baby is found in a wooded area; Burt Bacharach, Katherine Hepburn and George Carlin are born.

Breakfast Tunes

Something to Think about over Coffee Prozac

When you’re born you get a ticket to the freak show. When you’re born in America, you get a front row seat.

George Carlin

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May 11 2021

Late Night Today

Late Night Today is for our readers who can’t stay awake to watch the shows. Everyone deserves a good laugh.

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert

An Exclusive Interview With Kentucky Derby Winner, Medina Spirit

You heard it here first, straight from the horse’s mouth.

The GOP’s Purity Test: Loyalty To The Former President, Or Else

Republican polling shows the former president with high unfavorable ratings, yet the party’s leaders remain keen to punish anyone who breaks with No. 45, prompting Stephen to ask: has there ever been anyone in government as weak as Kevin McCarthy?

The Daily Show with Trevor Noah

The Kentucky Derby Winner Fails a Drug Test & How Bees Can Smell Coronavirus

Researchers are training bees to detect COVID-19, the winner of the Kentucky Derby is caught doping, and a cyberattack stops operations on a major source of fuel for the East Coast.

Caitlyn Jenner Takes on Gavin Newsom in the California Recall Election

California Governor Gavin Newsom faces a recall election, and Caitlyn Jenner joins the ballot, naming homelessness and trans youth in sports as key issues

Late Night with Seth Meyers

Trump Calls Kentucky Derby-Winning Horse “Junky” After Failed Drug Test

Republicans Are Purging Anyone Who Won’t Embrace Trump’s Election Lies: A Closer Look

Seth takes a closer look at the Republican Party’s fealty to Donald Trump and purge of anyone who refuses to repeat his lies.

Jimmy Kimmel Live

Trump Lashes Out at “Junky” Derby Horse, Gaetz & Greene Join Forces and Elon Musk’s New Talk Show

The NRA offered a Mother’s Day message on Twitter, Trump weighed in on the controversy surrounding Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit, the horse’s trainer Bob Baffert blamed cancel culture as a reason his horse was cited for steroids, a Bengal tiger was on the loose in a residential neighborhood last night in Houston, English Prime Minister Boris Johnson gave the OK for “cautious hugging,” the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services released a new video to help with life without masks, Marjorie Taylor Greene (Klan Mom) and Matt Gaetz made an appearance at their “America First” rally, and fresh off of his SNL hosting gig Elon Musk (James Adomian) chats with Jimmy about how it all went and what’s next for him.

The Late Late Show with James Corden

Social Media Is Tearing Society Apart, But Getting Us Free Clothes!

James has cruise news involving billionaire Sir Richard Branson AND a third mystery cruise line! Then after hearing about Reggie’s very cool weekend and Ian’s eventful weekend in Chicago meeting his girlfriend’s parents for the first time, we dive into… The News, including: apologetic hackers, controversy at the Kentucky Derby, the very-Alabamian perks of getting vaccinated, and how social media is tearing our society apart (which sparks a conversation about Lululemon that Nick, last week’s breakout star, would prefer we had cut from the show), and last but not least, a story featuring something that looks like the male anatomy.

May 11 2021

Cartnoon

Hair

John Oliver discusses the importance of Black hair, the ways it can be a target of discrimination, and some ideas to address that.

TMC for ek hornbeck

May 11 2021

The Breakfast Club (Threads To Weave)

Welcome to The Breakfast Club! We’re a disorganized group of rebel lefties who hang out and chat if and when we’re not too hungover we’ve been bailed out we’re not too exhausted from last night’s (CENSORED) the caffeine kicks in. Join us every weekday morning at 9am (ET) and weekend morning at 10:00am (ET) (or whenever we get around to it) to talk about current news and our boring lives and to make fun of LaEscapee! If we are ever running late, it’s PhilJD’s fault.

This Day in History

Charges dropped against Daniel Ellsberg in the Pentagon Papers case; Garry Kasparov loses a chess match against IBM’s Deep Blue computer; Songwriter Irving Berlin born; Reggae star Bob Marley dies

Breakfast Tunes

Something to Think about over Coffee Prozac

Nature uses only the longest threads to weave her patterns, so that each small piece of her fabric reveals the organization of the entire tapestry.

Richard P. Feynman

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May 10 2021

Late Night Today

Late Night Today is for our readers who can’t stay awake to watch the shows. Everyone deserves a good laugh.

Full Frontal with Samantha Bee

Republican Attacks on Trans Athletes Are Escalating

Conservatives are back on their B.S. and targeting trans kids in sports. We call a foul! Trans athletes deserve the opportunity to forget it’s their turn to bring snacks to the game and force their parents on a crazed Costco run just like any other kid!

Matt Gaetz and The Republican Double Standard

It’s been 6 months since Donald Trump was voted out of office. But while prominent party member Matt Gaetz is being investigated for ACTUAL crimes, Republicans are busy vilifying those in the party who failed to support Trump! Which begs the question…WTF?

It’s Time to Call Out Connecticut for Prison Phone Costs

If you hate the Detroit Pistons or the insane cost incarcerated individuals must shoulder just to make a phone call, have we got the piece for you! Sam sat down with Bianca Tylek of Worth Rises to learn how Tom Gores and the prison industry are making a fortune off of others’ misfortune.

The Amber Ruffin Show

Weed in the White House + An AAVE Spelling Bee: Week In Review

According to a recent article, several White House staffers were put on probation or fired after disclosing past marijuana use in a background check. This had Amber questioning: Has Tarik ever used marijuana? Also, the Scripps National Spelling Bee recently unveiled they’re adding multiple choice questions and a lightning round to crank up the competition. Aren’t Spelling Bees hard enough?

How the Jan. 6th Capitol Riot Was Organized In Broad Daylight

It’s May, and the news outlets are still reporting news stories of people being arrested for participating in the January 6th attack on the Capitol. How did we end with this many people feeling so comfortable committing an act of terrorism in broad daylight? And then bragging about it? Let’s find out in a segment called, “How Did We Get Here?”

Rudy Giuliani & Sen. John Kennedy Played Stupid Games, Won Stupid Prizes

Words and actions have consequences. If you do something wrong, you often pay for it in some way. Some call it cancel culture, but Amber likes to call it… “That’s What Yo’ Ass Gets!” This week, the biggest examples are Norfolk police officer William Kelly, the Capitol riot Bumble bragger, Senator John Kennedy, and Rudy Giuliani.

Your Mom’s Take on Caitlyn Jenner Running for Governor of California

These days, the world is full of different takes on the news. We get reporters’ takes, and pundits’ takes, and politicians’ takes, and random people on social media’s takes. But there’s one important take that’s missing — your mom’s take. So we’d like to bring that to you now in a segment called, “Your Mom’s Take.”

May 10 2021

Cartnoon

Mother shares unique maternal bond with gorilla

This gorilla is Kiki. She recently had a baby named Pablo. My wife, Emmelina, also had a baby 5 weeks previous to this video. Kiki had brought her baby over to us and shared a connection with my wife and our baby boy Canyon.

TMC for ek hornbeck

May 10 2021

The Breakfast Club (Wrong Questions)

Welcome to The Breakfast Club! We’re a disorganized group of rebel lefties who hang out and chat if and when we’re not too hungover we’ve been bailed out we’re not too exhausted from last night’s (CENSORED) the caffeine kicks in. Join us every weekday morning at 9am (ET) and weekend morning at 10:00am (ET) (or whenever we get around to it) to talk about current news and our boring lives and to make fun of LaEscapee! If we are ever running late, it’s PhilJD’s fault.

This Day in History

A golden spike completes America’s first transcontinental railroad; Nazis burn books in Germany; Rudolf Hess parachutes into Scotland; Nelson Mandela takes office in S. Africa; U2’s frontman Bono born.

Breakfast Tunes

Something to Think about over Coffee Prozac

We thought that we had the answers, it was the questions we had wrong.

Bono

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